Humane Society: Give Ohio farm animals some space

By TERRY KINNEY, The Associated Press
| 2:13 a.m.May 21, 2009

FILE - In this Sept. 10, 2008 file photo, chickens huddle in their cages at an egg processing plant at the Dwight Bell Farm in Atwater, Calif. The Ohio Farm Bureau is ramping up fundraising to take on the Humane Society of the United States over close confinement of farm animals. The Humane Society met earlier with federation leaders, Ohio cattlemen, pork producers and the poultry industry to demand changes in farming practices or face a ballot initiative. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
— AP

FILE - In this Sept. 10, 2008 file photo, chickens huddle in their cages at an egg processing plant at the Dwight Bell Farm in Atwater, Calif. The Ohio Farm Bureau is ramping up fundraising to take on the Humane Society of the United States over close confinement of farm animals. The Humane Society met earlier with federation leaders, Ohio cattlemen, pork producers and the poultry industry to demand changes in farming practices or face a ballot initiative. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
/ AP

CINCINNATI 
The Ohio farm lobby and the Humane Society of the United States are girding for a fight over the confinement of farm animals, following the Humane Society's legislative successes in other states.

The Washington-based society saying it is confident voters will side with requiring more space and better living conditions for animals. Farmers say the group's real goal is to reduce consumption of animal products.

The Humane Society met with Ohio Farm Bureau Federation leaders, the Ohio Cattlemen's Association, the Ohio Pork Producers Council and the Ohio Poultry Association in February to deliver this message: Ohio farmers must agree to change their animal husbandry practices or have the practices changed for them via the ballot box.

"When we met with those industry leaders, we suggested we come to a meeting of the minds with a plan to phase out confinement systems in the state," Humane Society president Wayne Pacelle said Tuesday. "My suggestion to agricultural leaders in Ohio was not to squander money on a campaign that was likely to fail."

The Humane Society has three main initiatives involving farm animals. It wants to ban gestation crates that allow little movement for sows giving birth, cages smaller than an 8-inch-by-11-inch sheet of paper for laying hens and stalls that prevent veal calves from moving around.

The farm bureau has served notice that it is not going to roll over.

"They make what sound like simple demands regarding animals when in reality their true goal is to give animals status equal to humans," said Jack Fisher, the bureau's executive vice president.

The federation sounded a fundraising alarm on its Web site last week. And in its newsletter, the organization asks if the Humane Society is making an honest attempt to improve animal care, "or is it part of a broader effort to disrupt livestock farms, artificially drive up the cost of animal products and restrict consumer choice?"

Pacelle said public sentiment is on the side of the Humane Society, which has 11 million members and is the nation's largest animal-protection organization.

He noted that Maine's governor last week signed legislation banning crates and cages that cramp breeding pigs and veal calves, beginning in January 2011. The Humane Society also got easy wins in Oregon and Colorado, where industry leaders went along with proposed changes. It also won ballot initiatives in Florida, Arizona and California, where the public sided with the Humane Society "overwhelmingly, in the 70 percent range," Pacelle said.

"We've done our own polling in Ohio and found it very similar to California, he said.

The Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, which has more than 230,000 members and lobbies for the state's farmers and farming interests, characterizes the Humane Society as driven by a vegan philosophy that "often uses images of sad-eyed puppies to solicit donations from well-meaning individuals."

"We respect their passion for these particular issues," said Keith Stimpert, the federation's senior vice president of public policy. "Unfortunately, making these decisions at the ballot box is a very poor approach."

He said the farm bureau was starting a new Center for Food and Animal Issues that would focus on "the whole gamut of animals' role in society." The center will raise money and be the federation's voice in the public debate on farm animal welfare issues.

–––

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California is boosting summer water deliveries for 25 million people and 750,000 acres of farmland thanks to late spring storms this month.

The Department of Water Resources is increasing water allocations through the State Water Project from 30 percent to 40 percent. Even with the increase, state water contractors will get little more than a third of what they had requested from state-operated reservoirs.

Lake Oroville, the state's main reservoir, is at 64 percent of its capacity. That's 25 percent below average.

Since 1968, only three years have had lower allocations: 35 percent in 2008, 39 percent in 2001 and 30 percent in 1991.

Water Resources Director Lester Snow says they'll have to make up the rest with groundwater, conservation or cutting water use.